Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc (KBLB)

[MU_Redskin1]

Let's use the CC as a tool to verify the statements made in recent publications and articles.

As an 'investor' in the company I find it comforting that we have progressed so far so quickly and I appreciate the careful and calculated approach to building the company.

How far will Kim go today and what actually will he divulge today or PR in the following weeks?

http://www.textileworld.com/Articles/2012/January/Jan-Feb_issue/Departments/QFOM_Spider_Silk.html


GEN 1

However, a breakthrough has occurred thanks to collaboration involving the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.; Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. (Kraig Labs), Lansing, Mich.; and the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.; and the first result — a hybrid silk produced by transgenic silkworms — is well on its way to commercialization primarily for traditional silk applications including apparel and medical applications such as sutures.

This hybrid silk is called Monster Silk, "a beautiful product," Thompson said, that has an entirely different hue and sheen than traditional silk. "The percentage of spider silk proteins in the fiber is not indicative of the fiber's strength," he said. "Those proteins are acting sort of like rebar in concrete, to create a reinforced fiber."

GEN 2

A Generation II 100-percent recombinant spider silk for technical textile applications is in advanced stages of development and soon is expected to be ready for commercialization. This fiber, developed using St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich Corp.'s zinc finger gene-splicing technology, would have advanced medical, composite and possibly ballistic applications, among others — spider silk is said to be stronger than aramid and 10 times as strong as steel. "

GEN 3

A customizable Generation III fiber that can include various mechanical and chemical properties is also in development.

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Additionally, there has been more than one mention by KBLB CEO Kim Thompson of acquiring a private company to produce spider silk apparel.

Kraig Labs... is exploring the possibility of acquiring an end-product manufacturer working in its target market.

http://www.textileworld.com/Articles/2012/January/Jan-Feb_issue/Departments/QFOM_Spider_Silk.html

“This material is so superior, it’s hard to see why anyone would prefer to have regular silk when they could have spider silk or a spider silk blend,” said Kim Thompson, CEO of Kraig Biocraft, a Michigan-based company with exclusive rights to market the new fiber. “I do think that it’s going to largely replace the regular silk market.”

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"Kraig Biocraft is looking to buy a “medium-sized” sports apparel company, he said, to manufacture stronger, more flexible sportswear with the fiber." Thompson said.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/university-of-wyoming-professor-helps-create-monster-silk/article_1f444e91-f48a-5e45-b0b3-045f5121393a.html#ixzz1lnt5ECpL

>>>>> At Fraser’s lab in Indiana, silkworms now produce a fiber that’s 95 percent regular silk, and 5 percent spider silk.

And within the next couple months, Thompson said, the goal is to engineer silkworms that can produce 100 percent spider silk.

Infinite uses

The breakthrough now means that spider silk could start appearing at stores around the country within months. And eventually, researchers said, the silk could be incorporated into everything from military armor to medical procedures.

The 5 percent spider silk blend already developed, dubbed “monster silk” by Thompson’s company, could be on the market by late this year, Thompson said. Kraig Biocraft is looking to buy out a “medium-sized” sports apparel company, he said, to manufacture stronger, more flexible sportswear with the fiber.

If they engineer silkworms to produce 100 percent spider silk, Thompson said, that could lead to spider silk body armor that feels like regular silk but is stronger than Kevlar.

But that’s just the beginning. As researchers develop a better understanding of how to tweak spider silk production, Thompson said, within a matter of years they could engineer silk that automatically produces its own antibiotics to use as sutures. Super-strong silk could be used to manufacture ultra-lightweight airplane parts. Manufacturers could order spider silk with a customized strength and flexibility.

“It’s infinite. We have more projects than we could fulfill in a lifetime,” Thompson said.

“This sounds like science fiction, but we have some of this mapped out on paper. And given where we’re at right now in terms of our production ability in the lab, we think this is very viable.”

As UW owns the patents on the spider silk genes, the school stands to make a significant amount of money should these plans pan out.

Public interest in the development of spider silk spiked in recent weeks after the researchers’ work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since then, Jarvis said there’s been a “media circus” about their discovery.

“There’s a tremendous interest in spiders and spider silk,” Jarvis said. “It just seems to tweak the public’s imagination.”

Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at 307-632-1244 or [e-mail] <<<<<

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http://superstarsofscience.com/the-diversity-of-silk

The Diversity of Silk

Posted by admin on 27th Feb 2012 - Uncategorized

>>> Silk has many uses and has been known for thousands of years in China and the Far East where rich merchants and rulers used the thread manufactured from silk moth cocoons to produce beautiful fabrics. The process has been exported around the world and the high class of clothing made from silk is for all who aspire to the top tier of fashion. When mixed with other fabric yarns the outcome can also be outstanding at a lesser cost.

In recent times silk threads have also been used, apart from clothing manufacture, in the biomedical industry for bandages and sutures. However the recent advances are with the use of Spider Silk which has a higher tensile strength and also more elasticity than traditional silk. Experiments taken place by Notre Dame University, the University of Wyoming and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc., have been able to genetically produce a highbred silkworm that produces a cocoon from a combination of silkworm and spider silk.

This new product not only produces a better bandage and suture for the medical industry but also can be used for artificial skin for wounds and burns cases. Due to its high tensile strength experiments are being carried out for improved air bags for safety in cars, stronger fabrics, athletic clothing and even for the production of bullet proof vests. Silk vests are currently used by Thai police using 16 layers of ordinary silk fabric as they have a huge silk industry in that country. However when large quantities of the new spider enhance fabric are available, there would not be the need for so many layers as tests have shown the spider silk vest to be twice as strong as Kevlar, the current favoured fabric.

Many more uses will eventually be found, especially in the medical areas where reconstruction of bodies is an ever growing industry for people wishing to live longer. Already skin is being produce in large quantities that enable burn victims to lead a better and improved life.

A recent garment was put on show in London made from Golden Orb Weaver Silk and is absolutely stunning but with a price in the millions. It took the harvesters over three years to produce the quantity necessary. Amazing applications for the future these advancements hold. <<<

git 'er done and let 'er run ... boooooooooooo yaaaaaaaaaaah !!!

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